Zack Lischer-Katz, PhD / Visual Information

 
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  • Paper Published in Library Trends: “Reconsidering technical labor in information institutions: The case of analog video digitization”

    Image of Waveform monitor and vectorscope, video scopes

    My paper “Reconsidering technical labor in information institutions: The case of analog video digitization” was just published in a special issue of Library Trends on “Labor in Academic Libraries.” It was a pleasure working with editors Emily Drabinski, Aliqae Geraci, and Roaxanne Shirazi, and I’m honored to be included in this important collection of essays that tackle pressing questions on labor in academic libraries, including sections on The Library as Managed Institution; Experiential Approaches to studying and understanding labor in libraries; Occupational Status and Access within the Library; and Venues and Vehicles for Organizing. The full issue can be download from Project MUSE: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/41733

    Abstract

    Technical labor is still typically made invisible in the functioning of academic libraries and other information institutions even as they begin to disseminate technical and craft knowledge through makerspaces and other sites of library innovation. This paper seeks to recover one type of technical labor, digitization, as information work that embodies mental and manual activities and is both materially and intellectually productive. This paper draws on findings from an empirical study conducted by the author from 2015–2017 that used qualitative-interpretive methods to study the discursive and material practices of professional media preservationists as they worked to digitize analog video recordings in small-scale, high-quality (“artisanal”) digitization projects. One key finding of this research is that in order to produce “legitimate” digital copies within their institutional contexts, media preservationists must coordinate their physical and mental activities to develop understanding of the invisible electrical signals that carry the encoded video information, blending objective and subjective modalities of knowledge. These findings have implications for understanding how the invisible labor of digitization has significant mental as well as manual dimensions, contributing to ongoing debates in information studies and the digital humanities on the relationship between “doing” and “signifying” in terms of knowledge work.

    Citation

    Lischer-Katz, Z. (2019). Reconsidering technical labor in information institutions: The case of analog video digitization. Library Trends, 68(2), 213-251. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/746746

     

     

    January 25, 2020 / ZLK / Comments Off

    Categories: digital reformatting, publications, Research, Visual Information

    Tags: analog video digitization, epistemic techniques, information practice, moving image preservation, preservationists, professional practice, video preservation, Visual Information

    Paper Published in IJDC: “Challenges and Directions in 3D and VR Data Curation” Essential Data Visualizations of Coronavirus Outbreak

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Recent Posts

  • New article published! “(In)accessibility and the Technocratic Library: Addressing Institutional Failures in Library Adoption of Emerging Technologies,” available now in a special issue of the journal First Monday
  • New Journal Article Published in LISR: A methodological framework for studying visual information practices
  • Chapter published: “Virtual Reality and the Academic Library of the Future” – American Philosophical Society
  • New Journal Article in Journal of Documentation (2022): The emergence of digital reformatting in the history of preservation knowledge: 1823- 2015.
  • Article Published in College & Undergraduate Libraries (2021): “Practical steps for an effective virtual reality course integration”
  • New Publication in Preservation, Digital Technology, & Culture “Using 3D/VR for research and cultural heritage preservation”
  • New Publication in C&RL Journal: “3D Data Repository Features, Best Practices, and Implications for Preservation Models: Findings from a National Forum”
  • New Publication in Records Management Journal, “Archiving experience: An exploration of the challenges of preserving virtual reality.”
  • New Publication in the Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy, “Barriers to Supporting Accessible VR in Academic Libraries”
  • New York Times Visualization of When Each U.S. State is Re-opening w/ Current Rates of Infection

All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.

-Walter Benjamin

Contact

You can contact Zack Lischer-Katz by emailing him at zlkatz@email.arizona.edu

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